There’s a lot going on in the crypto sector. Some are calling for more crypto regulation, others are warning investors of the multiple crypto risks. Then, there are countries like Canada, the United States, and Iceland – all of which are warning the masses of crypto mining energy concerns, due to the overload of crypto mining requests.

Today, joining the conversation surrounding crypto mining – otherwise referred to as crypto farming – is a county in the state of Washington. It’s worth mentioning that this is not the first county in Washington to put a halt on crypto mining, but it is the latest.

Washington Feeling the Crypto Mining Energy Concerns

Another one bites the dust. The world has now been informed that the Mason County’s Public Utility District (PUD) commissioners have gone forth with the decision to halt all new crypto mining projects. The reason being is that the Mason County fears the county will not be able to power crypto mining projects due to the intense pressure these operations put on power grids.

Quebec temporarily halted crypto mining operations for the same reason. And Iceland has the same worries but decided to take the risk. Earlier this year, Iceland disclosed two things: A) in 2018, Iceland is going to use more energy to farm cryptocurrencies than it will to power its homes, and B) though it has plans to power these projects, it isn’t 100% confident that it will have enough energy to do so, or to keep up with the ongoing rising demands of crypto mining in the country. Meanwhile, on March 23, Hydro-Quebec announced that it will be temporarily stopping new crypto mining projects from setting up base in the Canadian province. This wasn’t a total surprise to hear considering Hydro-Quebec first announced the possibility of this happening at the start of March.

As for Washington, Michele Patterson – a power supply manager, announced that the ban on crypto mining operations will be temporary, but the county needs some time to breathe and to study the impact these power demands will have on the local environment. In addition to not having enough supply for the level of demand, PUD commissioners also stated that crypto mining projects often involve a substantial amount of risk.

Is This Overreaction or is Crypto Mining Energy Concerns a Real Problem?

Some might argue that freezing these projects is an overreaction. If this is the case, it’s more likely that these people are the ones trying to put in requests with these countries to set up crypto mining operations. If it were me, I would probably halt these operations as well. After all, crypto mining requires a huge amount of energy and the last thing our world needs is to use up all of our energy on something that could still be a bubble.